After Grades - What did we learn? Forum

[JaHerer22]

Torts A- Standard issue spotter, typing race exam. 1 question 2 hours no word limit. If i could type faster I think I could've gotten a real A.

Criminal Law A+ Everyone hated this professor. He was a real dick. Openly showed contempt for gunners/idiots, refused to answer questions he considered obvious, relentlessly tormented people socratically. But his exam was straightforward 2 essays 4 hours on theft/conspiracy and homicide. Nobody seemed to get this class, it seemed very intuitive to me and I found the professor amusing.

Contracts A- This was everybody's favorite professor--funny, young, nice--lots of movie clips, practice exams, motivational speeches about overcoming the stress of law school, etc. But then a brutal exam. Open book. 40% multiple choice and then 2 essays with a 2,000 word limit for the both of them. I spent the last 30 mins frantically deleting and ignored the biggest issue in the 2nd essay. Some girls were crying. I think the curve saved me on this one.

I stopped regularly reading cases about a month in and used the e & e's, LEXIS outlines, and class notes as my main source of law and supplemented with cases when these all confirmed one was important. I started creating my outlines early and revised as necessary. By the end they were all 15-20 pages, trimmed down but full of everything I needed. I highly recommend OmniOutliner for Mac (OmniGrapple is great too for flow charts, I used these sparingly, but wasted hours of time creating amazing awesome outlines of pointless shit) and used it to takes notes and outline. I took 3 or 4 practice exams for each class. I can't understand how people can do more than that. If you don't have it after practice exam 14, you're not gonna have it 6 later.

I went to most classes but didn't really pay much attention. The notes I took were mostly just what to focus on in later reading, specific language preferred, way of organizing, etc. Maybe 1/2 - 1 page per class. I refused to get stressed out, drank when i wanted to (even if it was just a few beers after 4 hours of outlining), had a lot of sex, and spent a lot of time sitting alone in my apartment just thinking about the law. I tried never to spend more than 10 hours a day doing school related things and mostly stuck to it. I also mostly ignored my classmates. I had a few friends but generally found the more I stayed away from the drama, rumors, and gossip the better I was.

[Wahoo1L]

...

[quidproquo]

this is probably the most informative thread on tls.just throwing it out there

[Hilltopper]

Great discussion. Thanks everyone!

[carter17]

i agree, tremendously informative. could future posters, if comfortable, include school attended as well?

[showNprove]

.

[Arrow]

There is a separate thread that debates this pretty thoroughly.

My view is that typing speed is very VERY important. On average for most of my classes, the people who got A's typed twice as more as everyone who didn't. I probably have about data points, but the more you type the higher your grades are.

Actually typing fast is not always the issue. I type 100 words a minute (maximum) but on a test I typed 50 words per minute. That may not seem fast, but I busted out 9000 words on a 3 hour exam (it was an A+, two other A's out of 5-6 were around 7000-8000) when most of my friends did under 5000. There was similar word counts on other exams. I think the key is to type fast and to type about the right thing. If you stay on topic, and you end up talking about the issues correctly on those topics, it will easily put you 2-3 standard deviations above the curve. So I think the concept of "thinking fast" is also very important.

I also understand the other view. Some professors do cap the words sometimes and look for more quality. I think there is a certain threshold. You have to type a certain speed to get all the stuff down, but beyond that it is okay. Moreover, it is CERTAINLY possible and very likely in fact that you type a bunch of crap when you end up writing a lot. However, I only type fast and write a lot to be safe. (over inclusive can still get you the points, but under inclusive cannot).

Feel free to revive the debate on typing speed.

Be in the end, know thy professor. He may want a lot, or he may want less, so there really is not definitive answer sometimes.

[Anastasia Dee Dualla]

.

[showNprove]

.

[Arrow]

Honestly, the only reason I typed fast was because of online chatting, so I do not know any programs really.

A quick google search actually will give you several options for programs and software that help you type faster.

One of my fellow A students who epically guns more than I do, just practiced typing his casebook. I personally think he should have practiced typing his outline or something instead, or at least practicing typing a commercial outline or something. What he did was just stare at his textbook and type it word for word on to a computer. He told me it helped him type about 20-30 words per minute more with roughly the same amount of errors.

I think most people can type at least fifty words a minute. The few people who hand wrote their exams said they could not, but I doubt anyone who hand wrote it got A's (though I am sure it is possible but not many people hand write to begin with in this modern day and age).

[showNprove]

.

[tarheel17]

Regarding typing speed:
If you're not a fluent typist, practice over the summer. I think this comes in most handy in class when your professor is jawing away and you need to capture thoughts quickly. On exams, I'm a believer in quality, not quantity. I actually didn't write that much on my exams compared to my classmates and still managed to get a 3.9.

[06072010]

fucking TyperShark

[dinolove]

My grades weren't as good as others' on this board; turns out my Columbia classmates are pretty brilliant after all But I think my grades and studying patterns are a good lesson of what to do/not do, so here goes...

Contracts: A-. Loved my professor to death; favorite class. Professor wrote the casebook, and in class went through hypotheticals that were almost exactly what showed up on the exam. I read the casebook carefully, wrote every word he said, read the Farnsworth hornbook when I got confused, and took a lot of practice tests.

Torts: B+. Looking at the grade distribution ex post, I literally would have gotten an A- if I had brought my textbook to class [a statute tested on the exam was missing from my outline/class notes, and I wasted 20 minutes trying to come up with a substitute, which ended up being wrong]. Lesson: TAKE ALL ALLOWED MATERIALS INTO THE EXAM!!!! Besides that, knew the subject cold, used Understanding Torts. I didn't use the dobbs hornbook, but wish I had.

Civ Pro: B+. hated my professor. didn't open my casebook. was generally bitter about the subject and it showed on my exam.

LESSONS: I know of two types of people did well. There were the absurdly annoying know-it-alls who literally made it their job to make other people feel stupid; these people gave up their whole lives to school. On the other hand, I know a couple of people who worked fairly average amounts, but ended up with straight As. Some people are just going to be incredibly good at law school, and often they are surprised themselves. I worked pretty hard and did everything "right" [hornbooks, LEEWS, etc.] and I still ended up average. At the end of the day, some of it is just luck and plain intelligence.

ALSO: when people say grades aren't everything, they mean it. My grades were around average for Columbia and I don't have an outstanding educational background, and I already have multiple job offers [including law firms.] I really put myself out there in looking for a position. My friends with A's are still unemployed.

[williambrianlondon]

I wouldn't say that two B+'s and an A- is average--those are good grades, Dino.

[neverborn]

the class i paid no attention in and didnt even bother with the class at all (in class) = A

class i took notes, listened to prof = B-

ty

[bobjr]

I got my grades at gulc: B+ in torts, A in con law, and A- in civ pro. I also did pretty well in legal writing (though we don't get a letter grade in that course until the end of the year).

The main thing I think I learned was that I spend too much time reading cases (and writing briefs for them).

One thing I think that worked very well was making a note, and highlighting in my notes, every time the prof mentioned something that was an ambiguous point it the law... GTM was helpful in making me keep a heads up for those areas, but I didn't really use the GTM "method" for answer writing on the exams (nor did I use IRAC or any of the other methods).

I didn't use any commercial study aids last semester, but I have started using one recently for my property class this semester (Gilberts). I'm hesitant to use one, as my grades came out fine w/o them last semester, but the teacher hasn't given us any direction since the start of the class-- its all stream of consciousness...

[williambrianlondon]

I noticed that some of the people with the new model Apple laptop didn't fare so well on exams:

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/16166

[06072010]

I noticed that some of the people with the new model Apple laptop didn't fare so well on exams:

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/16166

Luckily my Remedies exam was an issue spotter on aardvarks.

Whew.

[Ali]

Nice thread. Thanks for posting your tips people.

On a related note, did anyone take any type of prep course before law school?
Has it helped?

[TTT-LS]

.

[06072010]

I am really pissed nobody laughed at my aardvark joke. I hate you all.

[LoseItToMe]

I am really pissed nobody laughed at my aardvark joke. I hate you all.

Nobody wasted their time actually clicking that link. So your post made no sense, and we thought you were drunk.

I just saw the video, though, and I get why you said what you said. It's funny.

[Ali]

Nice thread. Thanks for posting your tips people.

On a related note, did anyone take any type of prep course before law school?
Has it helped?

*head explodes*

Ah...I take it that's not a good thing?

[underdawg]

I am really pissed nobody laughed at my aardvark joke. I hate you all.

pretty good joke, imo